On this episode of Our American Stories, a first job is a rite of passage for many. For Leslie Leyland Fields, it was something more. Hired by a quirky and struggling ice cream shop in New Hampshire, she hoped the job would bring in much-needed money for gas and offer some time away from a difficult home life. Instead, it ended with an experience she never expected: getting fired by her "crazy" manager. At the time, it broke her. After all, she considered herself the "good girl."

Years later, Leslie came to see that the job itself mattered far less than the lessons it left behind. She shares this moving reflection on a pivotal moment in her life, a story that also appears in her book Write Your Story, Change Your Life.

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